Waiting On Wednesday December 21 (5) Destiny and Deception (13 to Life #4) by Shannon Delany

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking The Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:
Destiny and Deception (13 to Life #4) by Shannon Delany
356 pages
Expected publication: January 31st 2012 by St. Martin's Griffin

Description From Goodreads: The sensational fourth novel in the 13 to Life series sees Jessica and the Rusakuvas fighting to overcome one of their biggest challenges yet--the possibility of a cure for lycanthropy. With the threat of the mafia seemingly gone and the company's headquarters in Junction destroyed, Pietr Rusakova is adjusting to being a normal teen and Jess is realizing normalcy may not be what she wanted after all. But both Jess and Cat know the truth--that normal can't be taken for granted. Their precious cure isn't permanent--and when a new danger stalks into their small town, Alexi decides he must overcome his issues with the mother who abandoned him to be raised by wolves and make a brand new deal to save his adopted family.

The first book sets up what is to come in the rest of the series. Jessie meets Pietr, hot new Russian guy... not much action happens until the last 30 pages or so. The writing is okay, if a little repetitive and choppy. Still good enough to give 3.5 stars.

The second book wasn't quite everything I wanted it to be. The writing was just too scattered and all over the place. I would be reading a chapter, and then out of nowhere something else would start happening and I had no idea what was going on. Or a 2 person conversation would suddenly have up to 10 people involved without ever introducing anyone else to the scene. I would literally ask myself "Where did they come from?" This one ends on a cliffhanger.

The third book was so much better and much more focused and had much clearer writing. The plot was so much better. Jessie is in a mental institution and Pietr is off joining with the Russian mafia in an attempt to save Jessie. So we get a story with 2 POVs - Jessie and Alexi, Pietr's brother. While I did enjoy Alexi's POV, the alternating between Jessie and Alexi was distracting at times.